Average Voter Doesn't Have Fax Machine

Published: October 25, 1994

To the Editor:

"Washington Really Is in Touch. We're the Problem" (The Week in Review, Oct. 16) sees the new forms of instant electronic communication such as faxes, computers and C-Span as greatly expanding the ability of citizens to influence Congress. You claim that "every citizen" is now able to be in touch with Washington, and "American government is in touch with everyone."

Don't you realize that only a tiny fraction of the public is wired into the new electronic media? Average citizens cannot send E-mail; it is too costly both to own a computer and subscribe to an on-line service. Only 2 million subscribe to Prodigy and 1.6 million are members of Compuserve. This is about 2 percent of the 185 million people of voting age.

How many office workers, construction workers and factory workers have access to the company fax machine? Most citizens do not have the time or inclination to watch C-Span. Only 4 percent of the public reports watching C-Span in a seven-day period. If "we're the problem," we are a small, exclusive elite.

To communicate with Congress, the ordinary citizen must still rely on writing a letter. Everyone can afford a 29-cent stamp. Members of Congress who think they are hearing from the public through E-mail, faxes and FedEx delude themselves.

If the sheer volume of messages coming from these modern means of communication is drowning out the messages in letters, Congress is more out of touch with the average voter than ever. DAVID E. RE PASS Storrs, Conn., Oct. 18, 1994 The writer is professor emeritus of political science, U. of Connecticut.